Apologies for cross-posting. Please disseminate widely. This is a call for papers, posters, and expressions of interest in attending a two-day conference at the University of Essex, UK: ************************************************************************ ****************** Cultures of eBay: making sense of social and economic aspects of the eBay 'phenomenon' August 24th-25th 2005, Colchester, University of Essex http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/culturesofebay.html <http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/culturesofebay.html> ************************************************************************ ****************** Conference background This is the first independent UK conference which aims to look at the cultural, social and economic aspects of eBay. As such, this e-mail asks for early expressions of interest in attending, as well as being a call for papers and posters, in order to gauge the demand for this one-off conference. The idea for this conference originated from an ongoing ESRC project (RES-000-23-0433) at Chimera, a department of the University of Essex, which began in February 2004 and is due to end in January 2006. Results of this research project will be disseminated at the conference. The overall aim of this conference is to bring together academics, and practitioner groups from both business and the voluntary sector, to explore and 'make sense' of the cultural, social and economic aspects and implications of eBay, the Internet auction site. Important dates Expressions of interest in attending (for non-presenters only), no later than: 21st March 2005 Abstracts and posters no later than: 31st March 2005 Acceptance notification: 22nd April 2005 PowerPoint presentations no later than: 29th July 2005 Formal registration for all no later than: 16th May 2005 Conference dates: 24th and 25th August, 2005 Background to eBay This conference explores a phenomenally successful form of e-commerce, the Internet auction. Specifically, the conference will concentrate on one such Internet auction site, eBay - chosen for its market dominance. With 70% of all online auctions currently taking place through its site (Rowley, 2000), eBay represents 'the world's largest personal online trading community'. Initially set up in 1995 with collectors in mind, eBay enabled easier access to collectibles (vid. Bunnel and Luecke, 2000) - where the traditional inefficiencies of person-to-person trading such as geographical fragmentation and imperfect knowledge (ibid.) could be offset through computer-mediated communication (CMC). Dubbed "the perfect store" (Cohen, 2002), its success has been phenomenal both in financial terms and in the number of users it has attracted. Indeed, eBay is fast becoming an e-commerce mainstay and household name with 125 million registered users worldwide (eBay, 2004), and it is now the UK's number one e-commerce site (Nielsen Net Ratings, May 2003 cited eBay, 2004). Online auction sites have revolutionised the way we browse and shop for second-hand, antique and collectible items. However, they also provide new ways and new spaces to perform and display knowledges and 'knowingness,' particularly in relation to material culture. eBay differs substantially from almost every other 'virtual store' or e- commerce site in carrying a stock of mostly second-hand items, which are described and loaded on to a database by thousands of individual sellers themselves. Accordingly, very contrasting consumer and collecting knowledges are brought to bear on such items than for mainstream new goods e-tailing. eBay is also a highly unusual site in the way that 'communities' are enabled and identities performed through the site's own community spaces (discussions around topic threads and asynchronous chat boards) - mediated by material culture in buying, selling and browsing practices. Yet eBay remains largely unexplored by the academic literature beyond its reputation (feedback) system, particularly in terms of the key issues it raises around knowledge, identity, community and collecting practices in an e-society. This conference seeks to redress these gaps in the literature. But eBay also has considerable relevance for government and practitioner groups. The research will raise key issues for government and policy surrounding the potential for eBay to be a source of self-employment, particularly for 'disadvantaged' groups or those requiring flexible work, and increasingly important consumer issues such as the misselling of goods and the growing problem of fraudulent behaviour over the Internet. eBay additionally has significant implications for UK economic competitiveness in terms of the practices, structures and systems architecture of e-commerce, which include web site design and the distribution systems for both goods and money in an Internet era. Who should attend Academics in the fields of (but not exclusively): new media, e-commerce, cultural studies, sociology, human geography, HCI Practitioners in relevant fields Research students Industry consultants Keynote speakers: Dr Rebecca Ellis and Anna Haywood, University of Essex http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/team/beckye.html http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/team/annah.html Mr Will Davies, IPPR http://www.ippr.org.uk/about/staff.php?id=180 Dr Tim Dant, UEA (tbc) http://www.uea.ac.uk/psi/people/dant_t.htm Others tbc. Conference themes The conference themes have been written in order to accommodate the interests of both academics and practitioner groups. Although papers and presentations could address the following themes, submissions should not be limited to the themes suggested. See the conference website (Conference themes and scope section) for an outline of potential research questions that could be addressed under each theme. eBay and identity: the presentation of self/ others and knowledge performance * Significance (or not) of members' eBay user names. * Presentation of self through item description, photography and buying/ selling practices * eBay 'claims to status' and disidentification practices * Knowledge performance and presentation * Knowledge giving * 'Unknowingness' * How do eBay sellers present themselves, others and material culture in terms of discourses of 'race,' nation or Diaspora? eBay and social capital * eBay and 'community' * eBay and the development of social capital * eBay & trust eBay, consumption and consumer lifestyles * eBay and its effects on other disposal routes: charity shops, throwing away, relegating to the attic * eBay as a place to get rid of unwanted gifts * eBay and 'minimalist living' - e.g. de-junking one's life * eBay as ethical consumption? 'Recycling' to second owners. * eBay as a 'weird' or spectacular site of alternative consumption * eBay as a societal mirror in terms of what is being bought and sold * eBay as a store of social memory in material culture - e.g. 'memory artefacts,' nostalgia Collecting in an e-society * The impact of eBay on offline collecting practices/ rituals * eBay and globalised collecting - the world of goods * eBay and the ease of 'armchair collecting' * The effect of eBay on specific collecting cultures and communities eBay and employment effects * What impact is eBay having on self-employment in the UK? * Who does an eBay living appeal to? * What impact is eBay having on other forms of employment? * Is eBay creating new types of jobs? * Is eBay a good place to start trading for the newly self- employed? * eBay as a supplementary source of income * Is eBay a good medium for selling services? eBay, competition and the 'perfect market' * Does eBay really constitute the economists' 'perfect market'? * Is eBay creating new markets? * eBay and competition * eBay's business model eBay and the 'real' economy * Money flows * National postal services and other goods distribution networks * Internet infrastructure - Broadband vs. dial up eBay and website design * Designing e-commerce sites: what makes eBay sticky? * Designing e-commerce sites to support trustworthiness * How effective is eBay's feedback system? eBay and the consumer * eBay and consumer privacy * eBay and consumer protection issues Representations of eBay * How has eBay been represented in the media? * How do eBay's customers perceive it - through practice and media representation? Guidance for authors of papers It is not intended for authors to submit full papers for the conference. Presenters will be chosen by a panel on the basis of their submitted abstracts. Abstracts should be no more than 400 words. If you are interested in participating, please email your abstract to the conference administrator by 31st March, 2005. Please e-mail Mr Martin Hicks (hicksm and add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address) using the title 'eBay Conference.' The submission must include: * A title and abstract (400 words) outlining the work to be presented * Name(s) & contact details for each of the author(s) * Whether work is completed or on-going * Whether partly or wholly a student project * If work is subject to external constraints, (e.g. commercial sensitivity) Authors of accepted submissions will be notified by 22nd April 2005. PowerPoint presentations will be required by 29th July 2005. Guidance for poster submission Poster submissions addressing any of the areas identified in the conference topics are invited. The poster sessions are an ideal venue for presenting recent research results or ongoing research projects that might not yet be complete, but whose preliminary results are interesting nonetheless. Although poster authors do not formally present their work, the session allows for informal open-ended questions and discussion as attendees explore the topic with the presenter(s), who can convey their ideas without the requirements of a written paper. Unfortunately, as poster sessions afford opportunities for interaction with other attendees, poster submissions cannot be made without attendance. If you would like to present a poster, please send details to Mr Martin Hicks (hicksm and add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address) using the title 'eBay Conference poster.' The deadline for poster submission is 31st March, 2005. The submission must include: * A title and brief abstract (250 words) describing the contents of the poster * Name(s) & address(es) of author(s) * Name of presenter of the poster, address, email, telephone and fax number (if available) * Whether work is completed or on-going * Whether partly or wholly a student project * If work is subject to external constraints, (e.g. commercial sensitivity) * A brief note indicating how the space afforded for display of the poster will be used, including any innovative suggestions for display or observer involvement. Authors of accepted submissions will be notified by 22nd April 2005. There is no predefined layout and content format for poster presentations. A standard A1 poster board (approx 23 x 33 inches or 61 x 45.7cm) will be provided to display your work. For additional information on poster presentations, please refer to the conference website. Conference location The conference will be held at the campus of the University of Essex in Colchester, UK (see http://www.essex.ac.uk/about/ ). The University is situated in a landscaped parkland campus on the outskirts of Colchester, the oldest recorded town in Britain. Colchester is served by excellent transport links, with the A12 running into London and trains to the capital taking 45 minutes. Stansted Airport, the home of many of the 'budget' airlines is easily accessible. Colchester is also linked from the north with Ipswich and via the A14 to Birmingham, the M1/M6 to the Midlands and the north of England. Accommodation is available on the campus. More information For more information on any aspects of the conference, please see the conference website: http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/culturesofebay.html Additionally, please e-mail Mr Martin Hicks (hicksm and add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address) using the title 'eBay Conference' for early expressions of interest, or any queries you may have. To go to this e- mail address automatically, please go to the conference website. Regards, Anna Haywood Chimera University of Essex ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------- M: +44(0) 7764 976938 F: +44(0) 1473 614936 Ross Building pp1, Adastral Park, Ipswich, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk IP5 3RE http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera <http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera>